A former prosecutor and court officer was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison today for slamming a glass into a man's face during a fight at a Huguenot nightspot, costing the victim his left eye.

In November, a jury found former Staten Island Assistant District Attorney Gary DeFilippo, 50, guilty of second-degree assault in the July 2004 attack on Mitchell Miller at the South Shore Country Club.

DeFilippo, who had argued that he acted in self-defense, was also hit with two years of post-release supervision and an order of protection that prohibits any contact with Miller for eight years following his release.

DeFilippo's attorney Michael Handwerker went straight from the sentencing to the Appellate Court in Brooklyn to argue for a stay of sentence, which would keep DeFilippo out of jail until the appeals court rules whether Justice Stephen J. Rooney's sentence was appropriate. The court is expected to hear the case this afternoon.

The case was prosecuted by Brooklyn assistant district attorneys Jeffrey Levitt and Frank Santarpo. The Staten Island District Attorney's office was not involved to avoid conflict of interest issues since DeFilippo used to work there.

Miller was on the verge of tears throughout a brief victim's impact statement.

"I've been unable to work," he said.."My health is degraded. I'm very upset and distraught over what happened to me."

DeFilippo broke down immediately when he began his statement, and said, "My mistake was not to trust my instincts and stay home that night."

DeFilippo also pointed out he lost his career and lost all his money. He blamed Miller for costing him money for his own legal fees instead of being able to use that money to get his father the treatment that he needed before he died in 2004.